Thread: Hard starting Flathead V8 Ford

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junkyardjef, It has heavy cables, and a heavy-duty battery.
I noticed the ground from the battery is grounded to the engine. I read that it should be grounded to the frame. The engine has been painted it may have been put over a painted surface, so I'm going to try that first. I saw Speedway has a high torque starter for $200 if that would work I would try that. I don't want to through money at this car without being a little confident that what I'm doing will help. I noticed yesterday after having the trickle charger on all night it would turn over then hit a spot like the timing is off in a regular car, like they want to kick back. It's a real pain when you don't know, it's bad enough to change things that break but at least you know what the problem is. Thanks for the tip.

Richard

Checking for paint at the contact point is a good idea, same for the starter grounding to the block/bell housing. Grounding the battery to the engine isn't necessarily a problem as long as the engine in turn is grounded to the frame. A strap/cable from a starter mounting bolt to the frame is a good dual purpose solution as it ensures grounding of the starter.

Years ago, 1962 to be exact, I bought a 1940 Ford 2dr sedan for a guy in Culver City, Ca. It was bone stock and it would not hold a charge. My dad was living in Long Beach at the time so I drove there and worked on it on weekends as I was stationed at MCRD, San Diego. After three weekends or so of changing out all of the normal suspected culprits my dad had a wise old Ford mechanic he knew come and take a look at it. The ignition switch had shorted between the terminals and was draining the battery. New ignition switch, problem solved.
IMHO, before you start throwing parts at it I would make sure of the integrity of the electrical system.

It probably just needs the starter freshened up and if you are still using the original style ground cable get rid of it and used a normal cable,replacing it on the 51 and a 50 chryler made a world of difference in starting and eliminated the no start in damp weather on the chrysler. Jeff

The battery is new and 940 cold cranking amps, the battery cables look good and are a pretty good size, to see if there is a drain I could get a full charge, then take the cables off from the battery. A few days try it to see if the battery holds a charge. I'm not going to be driving it anyway until spring now.

There is a new braded old style strap from the engine to the firewall. I'm going to put it on the lift today, and go over all of the grounding areas.

The ignition switch could be a problem, and maybe the starter button, it looks like a mess with the wires.

Thanks again for the help.

Richard

hay ford I read in your post # 16 after charging the battery it wanted to kick back have you checked for coolant leak into a cyl. you dont want to hydrolic the motor just a thought ....ted

Well that will get me to check something else, I'll pull the plugs and see. I thought I would be in the garage by now but trying to get ready for snow coming picking up the garden hose, and yard things. I'll still get in the garage and post what I find, hope it's a ground problem! Thanks.

Richard

Maybe the timing is off some or the balancer has moved. Jeff

Go over to the Fordbarn, there are a lot of flathead 6 volt experts that will help with your problem.

I got the car started with a little resistance, when it warms up that really drags it down. I got the car on the lift; first thing I checked was the starter connection it has corrosion, and rust. By the time I got the junk moved so I could get the car on the lift I was wore out. Lake pipes made it hard also; I had to raise the car with a floor jack to get the arms under. The battery still had a charge so maybe that's not the problem. I will clean the cables, and starter post if that doesn't help I'll try to figure out how to check the timing. I will pull the spark plugs like it was mentioned. I hope I don't have antifreeze in the cylinders. I had that happen to a 41 Plymouth that will for sure make them hard to turn over.

I'll check out the Fordbarn also.

Thanks, Richard

The starter stud was stripped in the middle, corroded, extra washer’s trying to makeup for the stripped stud. The cable had been taped near the end; it must of hit the exhaust it was burnt to the copper cable. I’m hoping it didn’t short out anything. After putting the cable back on it spun over better but after a couple times of shutting it off and restarting the battery went down.

Getting ready to go the distance. I’m thinking about going with the high torque starter from Speedway, solenoid, cables, starter button, plus ignition switch. If that don't do it I guess the only other thing would be to change the wiring, it doesn't look too good either.

Has anyone used a high torque starter on a flathead?

Richard

Before you put all that $$$$ into it, remember that the wiring is going on 59-60 years old and it might just be time to replace - and you will have modern insulation plus the ability to go to 12VDC with modern negative ground and also be able to install a good stereo, halogen headlights replacing the 6V 'candles', LED taillights (but will need a voltage reducer to operate gauges).

Originally Posted by IC2

Before you put all that $$$$ into it, remember that the wiring is going on 59-60 years old and it might just be time to replace - and you will have modern insulation plus the ability to go to 12VDC with modern negative ground and also be able to install a good stereo, halogen headlights replacing the 6V 'candles', LED taillights (but will need a voltage reducer to operate gauges).

You’re right, that’s what I’m going to do.

Richard